Punchi Banda Elangasinha, Rate Mahatmaya (; 6 April 1888 – 22 September 1960) was a Sri Lankan notary public, traditional eye doctor, astrologist and musicologist. Best known for writing the anthems of

Dharmaraja College Dharmaraja College (), founded in 1887, is a boys' school in Kandy, Sri Lanka. It is a Buddhist school with around 300+ teaching staff and over 4,000+ students. A land area of is owned by the school spreading over half of the Dharmaraja hill ...

, Hillwood College, and

Rahula College Rahula College () is a boys' school in Sri Lanka, located in Matara district. Though it was originally a private Buddhist school, now it is run by the Government of Sri Lanka as a National School. Rahula College has two sections - the Primary s ...

as well as the first national anthem of Sri Lanka (then Ceylon), “Sri Lanka Matha Pala Yasa Mahima Jaya Jaya” in collaboration with Lionel Edirisinghe

Biography

P. B. Elangasinha was born on 6 April 1888 in Illawathura, Gampola and received his primary education at the Buddhist Mixed School, Gampola, and St. Thomas College, Mathara. He went to St. Thomas Teachers Training school before being appointed as the headmaster of Waebada Buddhist School. He pioneered and served as the president of "Samastha Lanka As Weda Sangamaya‟ (All Island Society of Traditional Eye Doctors) and "Samastha Lanka Sarpa Visha Veda Sangamaya‟ (All Island Society of Traditional Venom Doctors). Students were trained at his home to perform Buddhist Carols composed by him for annual Buddhist ceremonies. He served as a music director and a music exam inspector of "Jathika Gandharwa Sabha‟ (National Association of Musicians). He was also a member of the Ceylon branch of the

Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, commonly known as the Royal Asiatic Society, was established, according to its royal charter of 11 August 1824, to further "the investigation of subjects connected with and for the encourag ...

. Elangasinha was selected to be a part of Lanka Gandharva Sabha's judging panel, along with SLB Kapukotuwa, Dr.OHD Wijesekera, Lionel Edirisinghe, Mudliyar EA Abeysekera and LLK Gunatunga to determine the country's

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European ...

. In a controversial decision, the song written by P. B. Elangasinha and set to music by Lionel Edirisinghe was announced to be the new National Anthem. The fact that a song submitted by two members of the selection panel had “won” the national song competition evoked widespread resentment and protests. It was seen as blatantly unfair. Although the song by the Elangasinha-Edirisinghe duo was broadcast over the then “

Radio Ceylon Radio Ceylon ( ''Lanka Guwan Viduli Sevaya'', , ''ilankai vanoli'') is a radio station based in Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) and the first radio station in Asia. Broadcasting was started on an experimental basis by the colonial Telegraph Departme ...

” on the morning of Independence day as the national song it was not sung at the official Freedom Day ceremony due to protests. While the song itself was flawless and above reproach it was the perception of favoritism in the decision to adopt it that fueled criticism and protests. Thus the song which won the national song competition was unacceptable as far as the people were concerned. Elangasinha's service to his motherland earned him the honorary title " Rate Mahatmaya‟.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Illangasinghe, P. B. 1888 births 1960 deaths People from British Ceylon Sinhalese musicians Sri Lankan notaries